Mumbai: In a surprise move, Union defence minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manohar Parrikar met Goa governor Mridula Sinha on Sunday evening along with 22 legislators, and staked claim to form the next government in the coastal state. MGP and GFP separately passed resolutions earlier in the day announcing support to the BJP, provided Parrikar returns as the chief minister. Before Parrikar met the governor, senior BJP leader and Goa observer Nitin Gadkari had told reporters that the BJP parliamentary board and party president Amit Shah had conveyed their decision to let Parrikar stake claim for the BJP government. Earlier in the day, newly-elected BJP legislators in Goa passed a resolution requesting party president Amit Shah to send Parrikar as chief minister. Parrikar was the chief minister of Goa from March 2012 to November 2014 when he was moved to the centre by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Source: Mint March 12, 2017 11:05 UTC